Philadelphia Zoo Elephant Shrew Sniffs at Crickets

The crickets were very bold to walk right up to the elephants shrew and even stay right next to it. I guess they realized the elephant shrew was not hungry at that moment. But he did seem a little annoyed at their being so bold!

[@marsnyder2610]

The poor shrew looks nervous & depressed
& not eating. I think it's because the shrew is confined indoor and wants freedom. This animal was born free and belongs in the wild.

[@ZooVisitorMM]

In the wild, elephants shrews can live up to 5 years. The Zoo no longer exhibits elephant shrews, but the ones it had lived long lives, usually longer than 5 years. Elephant shrews in the wild or in zoos have active times and resting times throughout the day. Other videos I recorded of them show them prancing back and forth, and eating. They had very good lives - much better than they would have had in the wild where their main role would be to serve as predator food.

[@khricket]

@@ZooVisitorMM living longer doesn't really mean living happier.

[@RepairBeyond]

​@@khricketSure, but there are other inferences you can't make either, like the OP's: that the elephant shrew at the wall of what logically likely is a larger enclosure is depressed ("because it looks depressed" - to a human, and one who's watching completely without context of the zoo, the particular animal individual, or general knowledge of elephant shrews). OP might be right but s/he might also be wrong, there's no way we can tell based solely on this video unless one of us is a world leading expert in elephant shrews.
Regarding happiness in captivity, it is a complex topic. It really depends on the species of the animal directly, plus indirectly on a whole host of parameters like its size and behavior. For small animals, the chance of providing a sufficiently large environment that mimics their real environment well enough for them not to notice, within reasonable space, is is better relative to larger animals. But it really depends on much more.